Belgium and England reluctantly meet again | The Daily Star
12:00 AM, July 14, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:00 AM, July 14, 2018

Belgium and England reluctantly meet again

Belgium and England have already met during the World Cup in a match both teams seemed reluctant to win and on Saturday they will face each other again in a game they both seem reluctant to play.

The two sides must pick themselves up and dust themselves down after suffering the crushing disappointment of semifinal defeats to play for the modest prize of third place in a fixture often criticised as pointless.

"It's not a game any team wants to play," said England manager Gareth Southgate after his team lost 2-1 to Croatia after extra time in Wednesday's second semifinal.

"Of course, we want to win, we'll be ready to go again because the team take great pride in their performances. It's a bit too early after that defeat to think about it."

England were in high spirits despite their heart-breaking loss to Croatia in their World Cup semifinal and The Three Lions will be hoping to take at least a consolation third-place finish back home. Belgium's Eden Hazard meanwhile will be hoping to electrify the crowd once again and, with a good enough performance, may be rewarded with a Golden Ball. PHOTO: COLLECTED/REUTERS

His Belgian counterpart Roberto Martinez was similarly unenthused about the game after his side were beaten 1-0 by France on Tuesday.

"It's a difficult emotion to manage. You're disappointed because you lose the semifinal, and it's very difficult to see the opportunity of playing another game as a positive," he said.

Even so, he said he would try to lift his team.

"We need to regroup and recover and see the opportunity. To try to finish third in the World Cup doesn't happen often. The only time it happened in Belgian football was in 1986, when we finished fourth."

The two teams previously met in their final group stage game when both had already guaranteed a place in the last 16 -- with the twist that the side who finished second would land in the easier side of the draw.

Martinez switched nine players and Southgate brought in eight, a decision he described as a 'no brainer' in the circumstances.

Belgium won 1-0 and were rewarded with games against Japan, Brazil and France while England played Colombia, Sweden and Croatia but the end result for both sides was the same.

Both teams are in their second third-place match, Belgium having lost to France in 1986 and England to Italy four years later. It tends to be a high-scoring affair with each of the last four winners scoring three goals -- Turkey in 2002, Germany in 2006 and 2010 and Netherlands in 2014.


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